The Albert Lea 14-and-under baseball team sponsored by the Elks improved its record to 15-3 with a pair of victories over Waseca and one against Austin.

The team won its last seven games prior to the Austin All-Stars Tournament last weekend.

One of the strengths of this team has been a balanced hitting attack. The team batting average before the Austin tourney was .348, with five players hitting over. 400 for the season. They are Nick Hagen, Matt Schumann, Mike Honeycutt, Ben Kelly and Greg Schulz.

Against Austin, Schulz picked up the win with the help of six runs scored by Albert Lea in the first inning.

DJ Kjos jump-started the offense with a bases-loaded triple. Albert Lea took advantage of four Austin errors combined with 11 Albert Lea hits to win 16-10.

Albert Lea defeated Waseca 12-2 in five innings.

Schulz picked up his second win of the week, pitching three innings of hitless ball, while striking out six. Blake Perry pitched the final two innings, scattering three hits.

Schulz again benefited from early runs when Schumann delivered another first-inning triple with the bases loaded to make it 3-0.

Hagen continued his hot hitting, going 3-for-3, which extended his hitting streak to seven consecutive plate appearances. Greg Opseth went 2-for-3 and scored three times batting in the leadoff spot. Honeycutt also contributed, going 2-for-2.

The week the team completes South Central League play and is in the league tournament next weekend.